Why Do We Need Public Virtue?

Most people do not know what public virtue is or why it is important to a Republic. As we saw over the weekend, people value their egos over fighting evil. Wes’s article today reflects my frustration as well. Does anyone think that arguing jots and tittles will win this war? What did the colonists need to win our War for Independence?

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“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” –Alexis de Tocqueville”

Did we cease to be good? The evil in this country is not divided but the “good” side is splintered. If you consider yourself to be good, what is the purpose of sowing division? Are arguments and egos worth our children’s future Liberty? When was the last time that you considered virtue or being a virtuous man?

Consider:

John Adams said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”[1] Morality and virtue are the foundation of our republic and necessary for a society to be free. Virtue is an inner commitment and voluntary outward obedience to principles of truth and moral law. Private virtue is the character to govern oneself according to moral law at all times. Public virtue is the character to voluntarily sacrifice or subjugate personal wants for the greater good of other individuals or the community. Specific moral virtues include charity, justice, courage, temperance, reverence, prudence, and honesty. These virtues are the moral fiber and moving force to act in accordance with wisdom.

[1] John Adams, “Letter from John Adams to Massachusetts Militia,” 11 October 1798.

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What is public virtue and why it is essential for a free Republic? Here is a good primer:

Modern Americans have long since forgotten the heated and sometimes violent debates which took place in the thirteen colonies between 1775 and 1776 over the issue of morality. For many thousands of Americans the big question of independence hung precariously on the single, slender thread of whether or not the people were sufficiently “virtuous and moral” to govern themselves. Self-government was generally referred to as “republicanism,” and it was universally acknowledged that a corrupt and selfish people could never make the principles of republicanism operate successfully. As Franklin wrote:

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

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What does it mean to be a virtuous people?

Public virtue is a very special quality of human maturity in character and service closely akin to the Golden Rule. It is agreeing to forego some personal advantage for the betterment of one’s neighbor and society. As a modern historian epitomized it:

“In a Republic, however, each man must somehow be persuaded to submerge his personal wants into the greater good of the whole. This willingness of the individual to sacrifice his private interest for the good of the community — such patriotism or love of country — the eighteenth century termed public virtue…. The eighteenth century mind was thoroughly convinced that a popularly based government ‘cannot be supported without virtue’.”

When the colonists passed the non-importation acts, it meant that some businessmen could lose their businesses because the very products they were selling could only be obtained from the British. However, they felt the sacrifice was necessary for the eventual good of the entire nation.  That is public virtue.

Source…

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Every schoolboy knew the definition of public virtue in colonial times. It was stressed in primary schools in the early 1800s because it was essential in order to “keep the Republic”.

The real revolution was in the hearts of the people toward virtue

It is instructive to study the years immediately prior to the beginnings of the Revolutionary War. Historian Gordon Wood in his book, The Creation of the American Republic, explains:

In the eyes of the Whigs, the two or three years before the Declaration of Independence always appears to be the great period of the Revolution, the time of greatest denial and cohesion, when men ceased to extort and abuse one another, when families and communities seemed peculiarly united, when the courts were wonderfully free of that constant bickering over land and credit that had dominated their colonial life.

These voluntary acts of public virtue accelerated the movement toward independence. Many Americans became so impressed with the improvement in the quality of life as a result of the reform movement that they were afraid they might lose it if they did not hurriedly separate from the corrupting influence of British manners. Young James Madison gloried in the atmosphere of national purpose, saying that “a spirit of liberty and patriotism animates all degrees and denominations of men.”

Source…

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The people who planned the overthrow of the Republic understood why public virtue had to be eliminated. This is why very few people have even heard of the concept. The comments on articles here show the complete lack of understanding of public virtue. They would rather argue over jots and tittles as the Republic’s ashes are transformed into a dystopian nightmare of evil.

Consider the comments on Wes’s article and compare them to the comments on Peace Be Upon Us and Question with Boldness. I spend too much time moderating comments but it is necessary to gather information on the people who monitor this site. And that is all I will say on the subject.

Let’s focus on where we are:

  1. We are in a civil war.
  2. This civil war is based on good vs. evil.
  3. This will be a religious war as all such wars are.
  4. If our faith and public virtue are not strong enough, we will lose.
  5. If we lose, we lose everything: God, property, family, honor and Liberty.
  6. If we do not stop fighting among ourselves, we will lose.
  7. If we do not stand up and fight evil, we will lose.
  8. Voting will not solve our problems: it is a crux to appease evil and enable our apathy.
  9. If we do understand our own history, we will lose.
  10. If we do a firm reliance on Divine Providence, we will lose.

If I had the appropriate words to convince people that our future is in peril from those who profess to be good, I would probably be a politician. And I would not wish that fate on any righteous man. We are a divided nation and that is due to being manipulated by evil and by good people without public virtue. Maybe the answer is as simple as “let’s agree to disagree” and then engage the real enemy.

David DeGerolamo

    
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Green Hornet
Green Hornet
1 year ago

I recall John Adams not being a good, nor virtuous man. He was a charter member of the “Hellfire Club” and slept with half of Great Britain leading up to the war.
We are human, and our nature is fallen. Nothing except the Second Coming will change that fact.
I choose to stay where I am, and protect my family. Build your Killdozer and go to town if you so desire, the outcome will be the same.

Green Hornet
Green Hornet
1 year ago
Reply to  DRenegade

I learned that in high school American History back in the 90’s. It “was” common knowledge at one point. As far as gathering info on commenters, go ahead. If you think I’m the enemy, then ban me. You know I’m not though, I just have a different perspective. Downvote away.

David DeGerolamo
1 year ago
Reply to  Green Hornet

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-john-adams
The allegation was Adams sent his running mate to England to acquire four tarts to pleasure the ticket. This was ridiculous, because the man was a half-step from being a eunuch in a surprisingly swingin’ time.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a4846/bizarre-scandals-0808/
I did not find anything about John Adams being an adulterer. I learned in school that Abraham Lincoln was a good man who saved the Republic. If you find anything proving your facts, please let us know.

Fido
Fido
1 year ago
Reply to  Green Hornet

Great things are afoot. The future is extremely uncertain. We need options.

We may have a little time yet. You should be building *something*. Broaden your options. Broaden your abilities.

yes,it is time
yes,it is time
1 year ago
Reply to  Fido

The future is extremely uncertain.
You are going to die certainly.

Fido
Fido
1 year ago
Reply to  yes,it is time

I didn’t say it was *void* of certainty…. 😉

tom finley
tom finley
1 year ago

Then let us set aside our petty differences and begin! We are one mostly in our beliefs, have the laws of physics been suspended as well? When an opposing force strikes what happens a reaction occurs, let us stand and begin our natural reaction to the tyrants. Or should we be driven from our knees to a prone position to the hole they have dug for us. HTFU.

Lawnmore
Lawnmore
1 year ago
Reply to  tom finley

Yes, yes.

Lawnmore
Lawnmore
1 year ago

Back in the early eighties, I went to the libertarian convention in Phoenix; there was much in fighting over nits, the party went no where. It seems to be human nature to argue with your neighbor where on where to shoot, when barbarians are at the wall! This is one way nations fall.

tom finley
tom finley
1 year ago
Reply to  Lawnmore

Yes indeed Lawnmore, while we tear each other to pieces our enemy keeps moving forward, we are in a static condition.

Elder Son
Elder Son
1 year ago

Antonyms for Virtue

Maybe the answer is as simple as “let’s agree to disagree” and then engage the real enemy.

Virtue just went out the window.

According to Montesquieu, a necessary condition for the existence of a republican government, whether democratic or aristocratic, is that the people in whom supreme power is lodged possess the quality of “public virtue,” meaning that they are motivated by a desire to achieve the public good.

“Public virtue” without “virtue” can only bring about the “public good” for those possessed of the “antonyms for virtue”.

realwesterner
realwesterner
1 year ago

The Virginia Company, AKA “the Company”, AKA the USA, is even now subordinate to The Crown as per the Treaty of Paris. If the founders of the USA, AKA “the Company”, were actually virtuous firebrands seeking true liberation from the crown-and the red shield-they would have been eviscerated by the hidden hands that have crafted our “public” histories for the last 500 years-remember, the Rothschilds controlled The Crown even way back then. Viewed in one lens, the founders were ribald, drunken freemasons working to establish secular humanism in The New World (order) wherein The State (the Company) could eventually supplant God, flowery and philosophical soliloquies notwithstanding The New World Order is actually the Old World Order. The Order wherein babylonian talmudism (satanism) including treatment of humans as cattle and children as sex objects and as objects of sacrifice, had free reign. Mostly the founders’ occultic practices were buried in obfuscatory history-just like much other truth. By way of comparison, in school we learned that A Blinken was a saint, a supporter of human rights and an abolitionist and that he could not tell a lie…that’s the picture painted in school books and common culture. AFTER school we learned that Abe Linkin was a tyrant, a totalitarian, a war criminal, and that he said out loud that he wished he had never freed the slaves. I believe that God had a plan in the founding and the success of the USA, in the construction and establishment of The Constitution, leading in to the home stretch of this earth age. The Constitution has stood as a bulwark against talmudism, the satanic Rothschilds, and against tyranny, but too, that in the end only God has the power to eradicate evil. At the least our constitutional republic will forever stand as testament to the fact that if man is involved, no matter how lofty the goal, no matter how altruistic the intent, he will eventually make a total mess of it. Learning all these things was a bitter pill for me to swallow. Harder than that for me is to say such things out loud.

Thirdworldfarmer
Thirdworldfarmer
1 year ago

I would like to comment on this discussion, but the comment may become long and may be quite personal,and since the farm is busy it may take a few days- don’t hold me to time constraints please. With that said I don’t know David or Wes or for that matter anyone here at this site so am kindly asking if indeed this would be a place to discuss the state of our rural areas and communities

tom finley
tom finley
1 year ago

I for one look forward to your comments.

Thomas Angle
Thomas Angle
1 year ago

I am interested in your views.

Splish_Splash
Splish_Splash
1 year ago

Wow no wonder we are so screwed up -- our leaders do not have it in private (for sure) and in public -- THE BIGGER PROBLEM IS THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS -- THEY COULD NOT DEFINE IF THEIR LIVES DEPENED ON IT -- and sadly we are the public are dependent on them having it! WE ARE SO DOOMED!

Martha
Martha
1 year ago

Full disclosure having studied all views: I hold to the PreWrath Rapture view. We will have to endure man’s wrath for a time. It seems that the Lord has already broken Seal #1, #2, #3, and #4. The events are transpiring and will last for a time (birth pangs). We are awaiting #5! (Revelation 6)

Noway2
Noway2
1 year ago

I read a comment today, it may have been here, or it may have been on another site that I frequent, but to paraphrase it, the founders had different religious beliefs yet were able to come together and form a republic while recognizing that only a moral and virtuous people would sustain it.
This site has people of multiple religious backgrounds, including various denominations of Christian, Jewish, people who practice the Old Religion, and likely even some religions that are less common in the Western world.
Being of a particular faith does not make or unmake one as a moral or virtuous person. How would and do you treat others? Do you treat them with respect until deserved otherwise? Would you help them if they were in need of assistance? How would you handle your neighbors if the SHTF suddenly and govt resources were nonexistent? Are you a violent criminal that seeks to simply take by force because you can? The list goes on.
As Wes said in his article, the readership here likely agrees on 98% of the topic at hand. Why let the 2% divide us? I had a conversation once with a person who follows the old religion, they live(d) in NYC and it was the night of September 11, 2001. They said that they were awoken from a dream and recognized the angel Michael standing beside them and Michael asked them to help cross over some of the confused souls. They said to Michael, “Wait, I don’t believe in you?” and in response Michael chuckled and said, “just think of us as a different division of the same army”. Did this really happen? Who knows, but it’s still a good lesson.
Not having the same form of faith as you, doesn’t not make one evil, or a “devil worshiper” or any number of negative things; neither does it mean that they aren’t moral and virtuous.

a follower, working on it.
a follower, working on it.
1 year ago

i find both you David and Wes comments and articles both a little weird. The articles posted were religious in Nature.
Yes i wish more people would work on their people skills and perhaps that is why we are here?
At times we seem to agree we are in a Spiritual war, do you honestly think we are not going to have conflict with each other over these Religions that are made up of Yes, some Truths and some falsities?

This civil war is based on good vs. evil.This will be a religious war as all such wars are.How are we not going to have issues?
Yes Hopefully 98%most of us would just as soon throw a P-edo into a woodchipper if we caught him red handed. (Had to borrow that from Anonymous) Assuming the woodchipper was setting their running, we may even be exonerated.
Well anyways, have a good evening all.

Last edited 1 year ago by a follower, working on it.
a follower, working on it.
a follower, working on it.
1 year ago

Malachi
 1 day ago
Reply to  Rabbi Will Mccubbins
Now that’s what I respect. A gentlemanly response. Talking is always good.
2Reply
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Rabbi Will Mccubbins
 1 day ago
Reply to  Malachi
I wont be available tonight. But tomorrow around lunchtime. 7042026922
1
Reply
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tom finley
 22 hours ago
Reply to  Malachi
Thanks for the thread Malachi, you attacked no one in your article. Hope to see more of your articles here.

Question. Why do you, David and Wes seemingly not see the good?
1.There were many good comments in a number of these threads that were generated from Malachi’s initial post.
2.If all you want are Yes men, what are you building?
3.Conflict can build character, it can also show a lack of.

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.”
Have a good day.

Thirdworldfarmer
Thirdworldfarmer
1 year ago

So virtue & goodness- I was raised to be good- our rural neighbors & small towns people r good-what does that mean? No one I know has axe murdered,shot, or raped anyone,some go to church some don’t .nearly all expect a church funeral with a preacher or preacherette (please she’s so nice = good)that they don’t even know. In reality,at least 95% IMO are just selfish pompous assholes who sit on their money pile from both work & inheritance & go along with the crowd to get along. It’s their way or the highway (cause they “made it “you know) ME-gonna start a gravel pit THEM-I’ll sue you to stop it-too noisy too dusty too many trucks ME-built a deer shack in the woods THEM-you get a permit?you need a fire # assigned to it! Where,kind folks,do I find good people to join a fight for republic restoration in these commies? I serve in a local vet org- mostly Viet vets that were drafted (I served mid 80’s-early 90’s) half are victims on VA benefits (it all was so wrong = benefits). Any fighters there?? Folks,am I wrong for my animosity towards people? Should I risk getting ratted out,lose family,farm looking for fighters in these groups? I gave green hornit an up vote for the last sentence-TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN GO GET YOUR KILLDOZER- why? Cause-no shit- there is actually a Komatsu in town for sale big MF’R that some people in this area could buy with CASH and build one- but they won’t cause they’ve made it & won’t do shit but complain until SHTF- like undeniably.So the real question bugging me is at that point do I trust these fucking commies because the enemy of my enemy is…… or get rid of them cause commies will commie again & go it alone till myself & family are expired? Or maybe find a real compatriot some nite while out setting some fun for the enemies & find that person doing the same & agree to joint operations?